I've been notarizing home loan documents since 2003. There are a few nuggets of wisdom that I've learned that every notary needs to know. Seasoned notaries have learned these the hard way. I hope to save you some frustration, embarrassment and driving by helping you learn the easy way.
1. Always look to see how many borrowers are on the loan. You may have one borrower on the loan, but both husband and wife signing the loan documents. The rookie notary will have the person who is not on the loan sign some documents in error. For instance, if the wife is not on the loan, but she is on the title, she will likely sign the deed of trust, 4 copies of the Rght To Cancel, sometimes the Patriot Act and the Truth In Lending documents.
2. Show up prepared to go the extra mile. Part of making yourself valueable to your loan agents is that your clients will not have to bring anything but their driver licenses to the table. I like to have 3 pens with me at all times; one for me and one for each person signing. I also bring wet wipes for the clients to clean the thumb print ink off their thumbs (the package says "inkless", but it still leaves a residue).
3. Thinking ahead saves you from calling your borrowers back. When I first started signing loan documents, I would get back to my office to finish the paperwork and realize that I was missing some key information. This is mostly in regards to the Patriot Act. There were two issues I ran into; 1. This form requires the DOB, issue date, expiration date and driver license number. As a notary, I'm only required to get the driver license number and expiration date. However, as I realized I needed this information for the Patriot Act, I started writing all of this information in my book at the time of the document signing. 2. I also realized that I needed the social security number each person signing. If I had not actually seen the social security card for each borrower, but simply relied on the information on the application (the social security number is always listed there), then I was in trouble when it came time to complete the Patriot Act. If the spouse is on Title, but not on the loan, his or her social security number will not be in the loan documents anywhere. You always need to be sure to see the social security cards of each person signing the loan documents at the time of the appointment.
Future posts will have more useful information for notaries. I love that others can learn from my experience. I love even more how my experience allows me to be more valuable to loan agents who use me. Understanding loan documents has helped me gain the trust and repeat business of high-volume home loan agents.
- Dennis Beckner
If you are a Southern California home loan agent reading this blog entry and would love this personal level of service please don't hesitate to call (949) 842-7682.
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